Recently I was using the TomTom Multisport + on the same route and here is a screenshot of the accurracy from that watch.

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I didnt bother comparing it to the Fenix 2 as it was too bad to compare.
But I must say it looks pretty well compared to the Ambit 3. None of them are quite perfect, but I think I’d give the TomTom a win here.

So, while waiting for my preordered Garmin Fenix 3 which I believe is the activity watch best suited for my workout AND gadgety needs, I am testing this TomTom. I wanted to test a TomTom just to try something completely different from the Garmin I am used to.

I must first admit I havent used it very much yet, but I still have some first impressions about it. The first thing I noticed when picking it up was the plastic feel of it. It is a 2000 NOK watch and it is really PLASTIC. And with that it is a little doomed to be just a sportwatch – not something I would use every day. It might be me just shipping away my Fenix 2 which was made partly by metal and felt more like a proper watch. But still… I would not use this every day.

Using this in an activity is ok, though. The screen is easy to read and it gets is GPS fix impressively quick. And talking about GPS, it seems very accurate in great contrast to the Fenix 2. It actually recorded my usual workout the same distance twice – something the Fenix 2 never did.

I have more conserns with this, though. The TomTom MySports website is really slow when navigating trough my workouts. So I’m just not using it. My heart rate is slightly higher than I measured with the Fenix 2. I dont know which of them is the most accurate, but it might be the TomTom. That would make sense from the numbers I am getting. Every time I am connecting this to my PC, the time is reset back to 12hour clock (see picture). Why? And if I dont put the clock into “flight mode” after a workout – the battery wears out just in time for my next workout.

So, time for som pros and cons:

Pros:

Price

Quick GPS fix

Fairly accurate GPS tracking

Very readable numbers on the screen in an activity

Quick menus and quick in saving sessions

Setting to save directly to GPX files for easy import to Endomondo

Cons:

Plastic fantastic

Feels a little limited regarding features

Not impressive battery life

Not very impressive PC software

I would like more details of my activity like max HR for the session, ascent/descent, altitude and training effect.

No wireless features to upload workout sessions to Endomondo (must connect to PC).

So, as often happens.. the Fenix 3 was announced in january and when I saw the first picture, I just knew that the Fenix 2 had to go..

It was a quick sell and it was good value for the time I had it.
What I liked about it is the rough look, all the features and the thing I adapted very rapid was the GPS corrected time. I am not sure I can have another watch that doesnt autocorrect the time within a second of the official earthly time. It might be a gadget thing. 😉

But there are two things with the Fenix 2 that I really didnt like very well.

GPS accurracy. It’s darn bad. Really not very good.
See my post in the garmin forum for details: My post

The Fenix 2 does support iOS and Android notifications with Bluetooth. But only if you are not connected to an Ant+ device. If you are connected to Ant+ the Bluetooth is disabled. So the only time I actually needed the Bluetooth notifications (when in an activity) its not supported. And its a hardware reason for it, so no change in the pipeline there. Thats more than stupid.

Fortunately the Fenix 3 has a different GPS module (with GLONASS) and it does support Bluetooth and Ant+ at the same time. So two good reasons to get the Fenix 3. 🙂 Will post my impressions once its in my hands.

While waiting I am testing a TomTom Multisport +. Will write some impressions about that one shortly!

I have been using the Sony Smartband SWR10 for about six months and I have mostly been very happy with it. Initially I purchased it because I was curious on how I slept and it has a great feature for giving vibrating notifications if I have the phone in my pocket and receive texts/calls/emails and so on. This fall Sony released the next level of their Smartband – the SWR30 or Smartband Talk as its friendly name is. It mostly does the same as the original Smartband, but it adds a screen. And that gives some more interesting features:

​​See name of the person calling you (if in your phonebook)

See text messages

See emails

See calendar events

Start/pause music and volume up/down

Remote control the sound on the phone: normal/vibrate only/sound off

Get my phone to ring if I forgot where I put it (and vice versa)

Remote control the phone camera

Hands free calling

Yeah, thats a fair list of new features! So – this is something between a Smartband (basic activity tracker) and a Smartwatch.

Now I can see who texts me while I’m driving and dont have to pick up the phone and I can have the phone in my backpack/pocket while walking and keep updated on incoming emails and phones. Even answer the phone for a short message. Great!

The display is NOT a touch screen as I have read in some reviews. One would think that as you tap it for some functionality. But it actually uses the motion sensor to sense the motion from you taping the screen. And the screen itself is an E-inc display similar to a Kindle E-book reader. A technology which I find very impressive! It does not use any battery for the display as long as the image on the display is static. It uses only battery when changing the screen, so for example when the time shifts from 19:12 to 19:13, it uses a tiny bit of battery to update the page.

​OK, so I feel I have to balance this out a little bit. All great? Nah, there are some issues.

​Music control has no skip function. But why??

Sony has locked the home screen so I dont have an option to keep it all black or use any of the watches apps as the home screen. I would actually prefer if the home screen didnt have any info on it. And that would even save battery. I dont need another watch as I am already carrying one on my other hand (allthough this one is network corrected, so more accurate than most other watches so you could question the logic of using something else)

2-3 days of battery is a little bit shorter than I would have wished for

As I am using Bluetooth Hands Free in my car, I can not use the Talk function on the Smartband Talk. The phone will not connect to the car BT if its already connected to the Smartband Talk in hands free mode. But that also mean I can not mute incoming calls with the volume buttons on the Smartband as it is based on it being connected as a hands free. But at least I found a way to see who is calling..

Anyway, bottom line is that this is a great gadget and I am happy to own one!

I am sure most of my issues with this is just software based and would hopefully improve within short time (or at least I hope so!).